the ‘great’ film paura nella città dei morti viventi was filmed in savannah. the film is often ‘lauded’ for its atmospheric quality and of course the tight soundtrack by fabio frizzi. it is a touchstone of fine fin de la décennie (the 70s that is) italian incoherence with a preference for evocative imagery and non-sequitur setpieces over continuity and plot. wandering through savannah, from river street south, through forsyth park, with the iconic presence of spanish moss, the painted ladies, and the looming presence of parks, dark in the night, and lightless shaded in day, leaves you with the notion that mr. fulci need not have made any great attempts to infuse his film with ominous atmosphere or absent causality, but merely turned his camera on the city and environs.

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at trader joe’s in seattle on thursday morning a conversation was forcibly struck up between us and the cashier, and eventually with the older local lady in (if i recall correctly) some sort of athletic tights and probably a fleece northface vest. it came out that we were headed to tacoma after purchasing our smoothie, batard, and mango flavoured tortilla chips. “get ready for the aroma of tacoma,” the cashier joked. forgetting that we were leaving the city, the two seattliens proceeded to bombard us with suggestions of things we should do in and around the seattle metro area, most of which we had already done, and some of which (the suggestions made mostly by the wealthy idle looking woman) we had no intention of doing, especially not after someone had recommended them to us. i was glad that this shameless verbal tourbook had been visited upon us as we were to imminently leave the city so it could not spoil my feelings of independent discovery. we took off, not wishing we could stay and do the rest of the things the chamber of commerce shills had suggested, but looking forward, with speculation and curiosity, to the one negative thing they had told us, which was meant more as a deterrent from tacoma, its “aroma.”

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